Ciao, le paste!

There are pastries here everywhere. In le pasticcerie, of course, but also in le caffe, the bars, the bookstores. Every restaurant has some kind of pastry bar in the window to tempt innocent passersby. Not to mention le gelaterie on every single block, with the waffles outside and the big jars of nutella and oh my god the sorbetto!

I was very, very good for my first week here, but eventually I broke down. So far, I’ve had gelato once (dark chocolate and pistaccio), sorbetto once (apple and tangerine, at a famous gelateria called Grom that is, by the way, so overrated), and only…three pastries!

Of course, that count is excluding everything outside of Florence. But hey, when you’re traveling, who can keep track?

This was from a little caffe on Via dei Servi, north of the Duomo. I don’t even know what this one was called, and it’s in every caffe so it’s nothing particularly special. But damn, it was delicious.

It was all about the filling. You would think from looking at it that it would be citrus of some sort, maybe lemon or orange curd; but you’d be wrong. I swear to you, it was sugar, cream, and butter—pure decadence.

Anyway, now that la quaresima has begun, I must say Ciao! to all of these delights.

So, ciao ciao ciao ciao ciao! (The more times you say it, the more you show your love.)

Welcome to Roma

I’M IN ROME!

My first meal:

It didn't last long.

I need to learn Italian NOW! Ordering at the airport café was the most humbling thing I’ve ever done. After standing there for five minutes being ignored by the barista and shoved aside by big, loud, Italian men, someone took pity and ordered for me.

I felt like an idiot. All I could say is, “Espresso? Sfogliatella?”

“Cappuccino?”

“No, espresso. Caffe.”

“[something in Italian I vaguely understood to mean] Oh, sure, you look like you need a little help. These men.” (That last part was implicit in a broad sweep of his arm towards the crowd.)

“Grazie. Capisco, ma… Grazie! Grazie!”

I need to learn Italian. Now.

Vaccaro's

Vaccaro's Italian Pastry Shop is, if not the happiest place on earth, at least the happiest place in Baltimore. I was there a few weeks ago with a group of friends, on Sunday night, and the place was packed! We had to wait about forty minutes to get a seat--granted, we were a group of six or seven. 

But it was so worth the wait. My friend Helen and I split their massive chocolate eclair and "one scoop" of their caffe gelato. Service was slow but, come on, if you're at a pastry shop at eight thirty on a sunday night you're not there for the service.

The food came and it was AMAAAAAAZING. Enough gelato for five people, we passed it around multiple times and it never dwindled! 

222 Albemarle Street

Baltimore, MD

***On mondays, they have a $12.95 all you can eat special.